Calvary Presbyterian Church
The Rev. Debra May Cerra
June 6, 2010

Psalms 146:1-10 (NRSV) Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! 2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long. 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. 4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. 5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; 8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. 9 The Lord watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. 10 The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord!
 
Luke 7:11-17 (NRSV) Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.12As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother's only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town.13When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, "Do not weep." 14Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, rise!" 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.16 Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen among us!" and "God has looked favorably on his people!" 17This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.

Praise The Lord!

A Christian salesman was at a conference that lasted through the weekend, so on Sunday morning he decided to attend the church that was closest to his hotel. The worship was a little different than he was used to but he soon became so inspired by the sermon that he couldn't control himself. He shouted out loud, "Hallelujah!" as he was accustomed to doing in his home church.
Not noticing the stares of his fellow worshipers, he yelled, "Praise the Lord!" when another stirring sentence came along. After this second outburst, an usher came down the aisle, tapped the man on the shoulder, and whispered sternly, "Nobody can praise the Lord in this church!"
This morning our reading from the Book of Psalms begins and ends with a doxology, “Praise the Lord!” Praising God is something we all need to do. Praising God is what God deserves and we benefit because praising the Lord is good for our souls.
Our lives should be full of praise and gratitude. Of course, it’s easy to praise the Lord when things are going good…when some blessing or blessed event comes our way. But “how does one live out the doxological life when facing the realities of oppression, imprisonment, blindness, and feeling ‘bowed down’? And perhaps more important, who will help us face these challenges?”
Listen again to the words of the Psalmist, this time from Eugene Peterson’s translation: Hallelujah! O my soul, praise God! All my life long I'll praise God, singing songs to my God as long as I live. Don't put your life in the hands of experts who know nothing of life, of salvation life. Mere humans don't have what it takes; when they die, their projects die with them. Instead, get help from the God of Jacob, put your hope in God and know real blessing! God made sky and soil, sea and all the fish in it. He always does what he says – he defends the wronged, he feeds the hungry. God frees prisoners – he gives sight to the blind, he lifts up the fallen. God loves good people, protects strangers, takes the side of orphans and widows, but makes short work of the wicked. God's in charge – always. Zion's God is God for good! Hallelujah!
Yes, God created sky and soil, sea and all the fish in it (6) but the psalmist does not stop with God as creator. The psalmist’s concentration is on the relationship between God and humans. Our focus needs to be on God just as God’s focus is always on us.
It is true that people yearn for the fairy-tale prince or princess – that someone who will make everything right. It may be a character in a book or movie, a person’s spouse or friend, or even a political leader that somehow morphs into that perfect liberator for our lives even if it is only for a few brief moments.
Think about politicians. “In Western democratic societies, someone is always running for office. The next presidential election seems to begin even before the previous one is completed. Candidates stand before us and tell of all that they will do for us. Our tendency is to look for these earthly ‘princes and princesses’ to be our saviors. Psalm 146 reminds us of the limitations of earthly leaders and the dangers of placing in them the kind of trust that should be reserved for God alone.”
So how do we trust God with our lives and praise the Lord? In order to live a life of praise, day after day, “we need a spiritual practice that may require personal discipline and community support. Good things happen to us every day, even if it takes the eyes of faith to see them.” To consciously recognize the blessings of God is to choose the road to praise.
Yet, even as life holds many blessings, there are also times when it is difficult or seemingly impossible to praise God. When we face job loss or experience the death of a loved one or need to deal with a wayward child, praising God may not happen. But God understands the struggle.
Throughout the Book of Psalms we find psalms of lament. These are poems filled with sorrow and fear, anguish and disillusionment. In the psalms of lament, the writer cries out to God for help and restoration. Even as he hung on the cross, Jesus used words of lament from Psalm 22, “”My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (1)
The promise is that God’s faithful presence is always with us - even in times of suffering and oppression. Psalm 146 reminds us: “Get help from the God of Jacob, put your hope in God and know real blessing! God made sky and soil, sea and all the fish in it. He always does what he says – he defends the wronged, he feeds the hungry. God frees prisoners – he gives sight to the blind, he lifts up the fallen. God loves good people, protects strangers, takes the side of orphans and widows, but makes short work of the wicked.” (5-9) God wants a relationship with us and works at making that happen.
“An ancient legend tells us that when the Great Lord of All Being created all things - animals, birds, mountains, seas, and human persons - when he finished his work, there was only silence. No sound was anywhere. The angels, having examined the creation, reported to the Great Creator that, to be complete, it needed the sound of the Creator's praise. So then the Lord God put a song in the throats of birds, gave a murmur to running brooks, gave the wind a voice to whisper as it moved among the trees, and put a melody in the heart of humankind.”
In worship here today let's let the sound of our praises to God be heard. Let us joyously participate in creation's song of praise for our melody of praise helps to complete God’s creation. Don't be timid about it! Remember what the psalmist tells us: “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, with your soul! Praise the Lord as long as you live; sing praises to your God your whole life long.” (1-2)
Sisters and brothers, at Pentecost the Holy Spirit came into the church. POW! The Spirit arrived in full power. God rocked that band of fearful, squeaky, sometime-followers right out of their inactivity. Out they came from behind locked doors – filled with the Holy Spirit. They came right into the streets and began praising the Lord. Let’s take their lead and do the same!
          Think about that usher who tapped the visitor on the shoulder,and whispered sternly, "Nobody can praise the Lord in this church!" Can the same be said about Calvary Presbyterian Church? Is that how we want to be known? Or - are we a church that wants to praise the Lord? Are we willing to set aside our inhibition and allow the Holy Spirit to move us into joyful praise?
This morning, let’s give voice to the melody that is within us. Let’s sing out our praises so they can be heard – from our lips and our hearts. Remember, praise is something we do more than something we say. It is an act of kindness which demonstrates that we are children of God. Let’s praise the Lord in our worship and in our living, now and forever. Praise the Lord! Amen and amen.